PRESS: Donald Trump election is a wake-up call for Europe

Brussels, 9th November 2016

Elections are a great moment for our democratic countries. This years’ presidential campaign in the USA, however, will be remembered as one of the worst in terms of quality of the debate, while the election result should be a wake-up call for Europe.

The United States of America are one of the major global powers and the election of is president does not matter only to US citizens but to the whole world due to the impact that US foreign policy can have across the world. For this reason, the President of the United States must be able to understand the complexity of todays’ world, be able to respect its partners and refrain from falling in the trap of populist arguments.

“Unfortunately President-elect Donald Trump has not demonstrated any such qualities and his statements on key issues such as climate change, migration or defence cooperation via NATO mean that it will be more difficult to deal with global challenges through the international system from now on” argues Pietro De Matteis, president of the European Federalist Party.

“During these increasingly challenging times – and even more so after today’s elections – it is crucial for Europe to enable itself to act coherently and independently and be ready to take the lead in tackling global challenges and defending those progressive principles at the heart of the European project”.

“At the same time, a renewed effort in engaging citizens in the political process must be a priority for Europe and must be done as closely to the citizens as possible in order to understand fully their needs and anxieties. Only by doing so the current frustrations vis-à-vis politics can be channelled into a positive process of renewal of our societies rather than unravel into a mere anti-establishment vote” continued Pietro De Matteis.

The European Federalist Party (EFP) is the only, truly pan-European political party campaigning for a more democratic and federal Europe. The EFP was founded in 2011 by citizens from all over Europe and has since developed into a cross-border movement that ran for the last European Parliament elections in six countries defending the same pan-European programme voted by its members at the 2013 EFP Federal Convention. The EFP contributed to the introduction of several pieces of European legislation including the European Citizens’ Initiative and the EU roaming regulation.

For more information on this Press Release or to arrange an interview with the President, please contact Michel Caillouët, by email: EFP.Press@federalistparty.eu.